Jack Eichel sends a message to the Buffalo Sabres.

The Jack Eichel saga is finally over.

After months of rumors and months of speculation the Buffalo Sabres finally made the highly anticipated decision to trade their former captain. In the end it would be the Las Vegas Golden Knights that would acquire Eichel from the Sabres, sending a package of picks and players back the other way, but it will be years before we can properly gauge who in the end will win this trade.

For now though the drama surrounding the dispute between Eichel and the Sabres has come to an end and, although there may still be some hurt feelings between those actually involved in that dispute, I am just glad its over. Whatever bad blood may have existed between Eichel and the Sabres as a result of their disagreement, that animosity never extended to the team's fan base or to the city of Buffalo itself. If there were any doubts about that, the former Sabres captain erased them on Saturday morning.

In spite of the fact that his time in Buffalo ended under very unfortunate circumstances, Eichel took to social media on Saturday to thank the Sabres organization, the city of Buffalo, and the fans who supported him during his many years in that city. The Sabres were never able to build a winning team around him, or even a contending team for that matter, but in spite of that Eichel blossomed into a superstar in the National Hockey League while playing for that organization and received the loved and admiration of the fans in Buffalo as a result. 

It was a short but sweet message from Eichel, one that he could have easily avoided altogether given just how ugly things were for him at the end.

"I just wanted to take this time to thank the Buffalo Sabres organization, all their fans, this organization gave me all the opportunities to live out a childhood dream. Unfortunately we didn't achieve what our goals were but the overwhelming support over the last day or so has been incredible. I am so grateful for all the relationships I have built over the last six years, I just wanted to say thank you from the bottom of my heart to all the fans and for everyone that supported me in this incredible city."